1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system control method and a system control apparatus both of which are suitable for use in system control of multimedia devices capable of handling various kinds of information such as texts, sound, still images and moving images.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, so-called AV devices which have chiefly relied on analog techniques, such as audio equipment, video equipment and television sets, have been being digitized more and more. As digitization of text information and still image information becomes more popular, text information, sound information, still-image information and moving-image information are beginning to be unitarily handled within computers.
However, if currently available multimedia devices (for example, sound input/output devices and image input/output devices such as digital cameras, CD-ROM players, scanners, sound boards and video boards) are to be utilized on a computer, it has been necessary to install application software or device drivers dedicated to driving the respective multimedia devices on the computer.
The above-described art has the problem that new software or device drivers must be prepared for new multimedia devices in each computer or OS (Operating System) and software development becomes a heavy burden and efficient and high-rapid control is impossible.
Another problem is that the above-described art generally does not allow a computer connected to a LAN (local area network) to transparently use a multimedia device connected to a different point of the LAN. Accordingly, it has been impossible to realize the concept of a multimedia system to enable a plurality of computers to access individual peripheral devices via a LAN.